Demi Vollering won the 2026 Giro d'Italia Women on Sunday, seizing the maglia rosa from compatriot Anna van der Breggen on the ninth and final stage around Saluzzo. The FDJ United-Suez leader started the day 49 seconds behind Van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) but launched a decisive acceleration 39 kilometres from the finish on the Colletta di Brondello, leaving the race leader behind.
The 145-kilometre circuit around Saluzzo in Piedmont packed more than 2,000 metres of elevation gain, offering Vollering one last chance to close the gap. She bridged across to the day's breakaway containing Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ), Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon/SRAM) and Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl-Trek). Van der Breggen, unable to follow, crossed the line 2 minutes 22 seconds behind the lead group, surrendering the overall lead.
“Avec plus de 2 000 mètres de dénivelé positif en 145 km autour de Saluzzo, dans le Piémont, la dernière étape du Giro offrait une dernière cartouche à Demi Vollering.”
Longo Borghini won the final stage in a sprint from the four-rider group. Vollering finished fourth on the stage, conserving energy and savouring the overall victory without contesting the sprint. The win makes Vollering the second woman in history to claim all three Grand Tours (Giro, Tour de France, Vuelta a España), after Annemiek van Vleuten.
Vollering won the Tour de France Femmes in 2023 and the Vuelta Femenina in both 2024 and 2025. The Giro was the only Grand Tour missing from her palmarès. Her victory comes one week after Jonas Vingegaard completed his own Grand Tour set on the men's side.
“Sacrée sur le Tour de France en 2023, et sur le Tour d'Espagne en 2024 et 2025, Vollering s'offre le Grand Tour qui lui manquait.”
For Van der Breggen, a four-time Giro winner (2015, 2017, 2020, 2021), the collapse on the final day marks a second consecutive disappointment. She had already lost the Vuelta Femenina lead earlier in May. The SD Worx-Protime rider had held the maglia rosa heading into the final stage but could not respond when Vollering attacked on the penultimate climb.
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The Dutch rider attacked on the last climb to drop overnight leader Anna van der Breggen and complete her set of Grand Tour victories.
AI text based on reports by Le Parisien, Ouest France, 7sur7 and other publishers. Published .